Okay, I think I've properly mourned the loss of my Xanga site (after writing my "ordeal" post)... :P I've got a new blog title (I've always liked the word "abode") and I've got the "updated" version of my former background (kid not, DigitalBlasphemy updated the background picture I was using). So...To new beginnings! I suppose it's fitting that I changed things when it's the 10-year anniversary of my blog...
Anyway, I'm in the final, final stages of my Aquarium report. I present in a little over a week and then it's whatever that needs to be changed from the presentation and then I'm finished! Yay! Feels kind of weird to think I won't have any other "work" hanging over my head after I get home from work.
Cooking hasn't been happening the last few weeks. I worked a 7-day workweek and was tired from those days. Then the next week was crazy and then I had a 4-day weekend. I spent the weekend relaxing to the fullest! I really needed those 4-days off. I was exhausted and just not handling work well. I feel better at work now. Still haven't gotten back to cooking, but hopefully I'll get back to it at some point.
Health wise...it's been a weird year. I don't have health insurance right now, but I'm thinking of signing up for next year. Not because of Obamacare, but I have a feeling I might need some expensive tests if I can't get my heart palpitations under control. I had a dizzy, lightheaded spell a few weeks ago and it's gone, but they lingered for days afterwards. They weren't nearly as bad as the first few days (the first day, I was in bed most of it because I was so dizzy), but it was enough to make me feel ill for a week. Not sure if they were connected, but after that, my heart palpitations were really bad. Since then, they've calmed down some, but I still get them almost daily. Some are worse than others. They did stop a good month or so, but I'm not sure what caused them to stop. I think a good part of it is my diet. They stopped around the time I was cooking so maybe it has something to do with salt content, but I'm not sure. Exercise helps, of course, and I don't have them during the exercise, but I still get them afterwards. Who knows! I'm watching it.
My heel spurs also came back during my 7-day workweek. They're slowly going away. They're so annoying! You never appreciate your shoes more than when you can't walk without them...I just need to remember to stretch. Heel spurs you can't really get rid of (they're a bony protrusion in your heel), but you can keep them under control through stretching and other exercises. Heel spurs flare up when the tendon on the bottom of your foot flares up and gets irritated further by the spur. It's a lot like biting your cheek and then you keep biting your cheek because it's flared up. If my tendon is irritated it, it rubs against the spur, and the spur irritates it more. Stretching helps keep the tendon from getting irritated.
I get the weird things, don't I? At least my chest sebaceous cyst is still gone, even if it itches sometimes and has left a weird "scar." :)
Kodie (my cat) had quite an ordeal the last few weeks. She was scratching and licking a lot, but we just thought she was allergic to something (her food kept changing). Then, I found a flea on me in bed. Ew! None of the animals are outdoor, but it doesn't mean we couldn't have brought them in. Her scratching and licking got REALLY bad. So bad, she removed almost all the base fur on her back near the base of her tail (looks like someone who is bald and is trying to hide the bald patches). She was also licking a spot on her back leg so much, she was licking it raw and creating a wound. So, we decided to put her soft cone on her to get her to stop licking the spot on her leg. All the licking was causing her to throw up a lot too. In the 2 years beforehand, she threw up 3 times. In just 3 days, she threw up 4 times. That's how much fur she was licking off herself. So...the cone went on, which meant I haven't slept well in a week. She had the cone for 3 or 4 days and since she couldn't lick, she was scratching a LOT and she kept scratching at her neck (where the cone was) and so she'd hit the cone and it'd make an annoying, loud noise. And then she'd want to lick, so she'd lick the cone, which made an annoying, loud noise. Yeah, she was kicked out of the room a lot. FINALLY got her Advantage and put it on her yesterday. In 24 hours, you can see the difference. She's not itching as much and the cone stopped her habit of licking. She seems far more comfortable now. I know she's still going to pull fur out because she's covered in scabs, but I'm hoping the fleas were the problem and not an allergy. We didn't put Advantage on the rabbits, so we'll see. She's currently sleeping in my trashcan. LoL My FULL trashcan. What a weird cat...
Anyway, to the large movie update I said that needed to be completed. This is a good week since there are no new movies I've watched and there are several coming out next week. Most opinions are going to be short since it's been a while since I've seen some of these and there's so many of them.
Mud (Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon) - There's been talk about McConaughey getting an Oscar nod for Mud (maybe not the short list, but it comes up in conversation). He's the title role and it's an interesting, albeit slow movie. It's about growing up and relationships (or love). I wouldn't recommend it for everyone as it is slow, but I thought the acting was good. It's kind of nice to see McConaughey in a different role, though. The boys were also really good. Grade: B
Olympus Has Fallen (Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman) - Full of cliches and Chris and I laughed a lot in this movie. First off, you know this is going to be an over-the-top action film and it is, but there are just funny scenes in it (like the lady who's running away from the Washington Monument as it's collapsing). The other funny thing is Freeman isn't the POTUS! What...?! Well, he's Speaker of the House and the actual POTUS (Eckhart) is basically kidnapped so...Freeman is acting POTUS! LoL The other laughable thing was it was Koreans who attacked the nation and kidnapped the President. At first, you're made to believe it's S. Koreans, but then you find out it's really a guy who's infiltrated the SKoreans and he's rooting for the NKoreans. Chris and I both went, "What?! It's Koreans?!" Both being Korean, it was funny to us. When was the last time you saw the US attacked by Koreans in a movie?! At any rate, it was a good rental, action movie, but we laughed a lot (non-intentional laughs) too. Grade: C
Bullet to the Head (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa) - What did I watch...? It wasn't bad, but it is a Stallone film. Basically a bad guy and a good guy get together to defeat a badder guy. Really, is there anything else to say? It's subpar. Grade: C-
42 (Chadwick Boseman) - My main impression of this film is...It's the baseball equivalent of Remember the Titans. It's feel-good, decent story, decent acting, and gives you a happy feeling when you finish watching it. Wasn't a bad movie. Not the most "action" packed or even riveting film, but it was decent and, in a subpar year for me, it stood out for being better than the average. Grade: B
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf) - Redford and LaBeouf...What an odd pair. Not a bad film, but definitely lacks in something...Story...? Directing...? Not sure. Chris and I chuckled because Big Sur makes an appearance because it's a location for drug smuggling. The story has a somewhat quasi "mystery" in it from these radicals (Redford) while the news reporter (LaBeouf) tries to fish out the history and mysteries, but it's just...not that interesting? Definitely a forgettable movie (I wouldn't even remember the movie if it wasn't for remembering the actors). Grade: C
The Big Wedding (Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, etc) - Rom-com that's almost more drama than rom-com. It's more reminiscent of It's Complicated or Something's Gotta Give (e.g., the story is more about the older actors than the younger ones). Unfortunately, it's not as funny or endearing as Something's Gotta Give. The story gets bogged down by the triangle and everyone's personal issues. It's not bad, but it's definitely not as good as it could have been given the cast. Grade: C
Kick-Ass 2 (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) - Not as good as the first one. It's more violent than the first, but it's not like "overly violent," I guess. I don't know. It's just not as good as the first one. I was disappointed in it. Grade: C
Emperor (Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones) - I need to check the historical accuracy of the movie, but I didn't think it was that bad. The love story for Fox was a little cumbersome, but I got why they did it too. I thought Jones was a good MacArthur. It is an interesting period of history that you don't hear a lot. I don't think I realized how tenuous it was for the Emperor of Japan and being tried for war crimes or the implications it could have had. I didn't think it was too bad, but Fox's love story does bog it down. Grade: C+
Trance (James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, Rosario Dawson) - I really liked this movie. The problem with it and the ability to recommend it to others is it deserves its rating (rated R). It eliminates most people I know who would want to see it and, as a psycho-thriller, it's a good psycho-thriller! It has a pretty violent scene (with a mostly gross violent part -- seeing someone's face shot off talking (part of the psycho-thriller part)) and there's a full frontal nude scene from the female. Granted, the nude scene is short and serves a purpose, but I don't think they had to write that entire plot point into the movie. Then again, it also tracks along to who McAvoy's character is (art dealer). Like I said, though, it didn't need to be in there, but it does make some sense (in the end -- back to the psycho-thriller part). At any rate, I like psycho-thrillers. They tend to be mind-bending and require the watcher's full attention and I like the twists. This one had TWISTS. I knew one twist, but I didn't know the 2nd one. I think if I had paid more attention, I would have figured out the major twist, but I wasn't watching as closely as I should have. It was interesting, though, and left a slightly open ending (kind of like Inception). Decent acting, decent script, but it's not entirely original either... Just a shame it's really rated R. Grade: B/B-
Amour (Jean-Lous Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva) - FINALLY got to watch this! It's been months since the Oscars. It's a slow movie and the captions don't help either in making the movie speed up, but it is so heart-wrenching and endearing...It's such a touching story of love, commitment, and responsibility. If it doesn't pull your heart strings, you're heartless. It is rather depressing, though. Chris kept saying, "Why are you watching this? It's depressing." It's depressing, but tender too. The ending is kind of up for debate on whether you agree or not, but you also can see why he did what he did. In his mind, it was an act of love, respect, and mercy. Grade: B+/A-
Pain and Gain (Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johsnon, Anthony Mackie) - Crime comedy...? Dramedy? Something along those lines...The movie is both "serious" as it's based off a true story, but also pokes fun at itself the whole way through. The weirdest thing for me was seeing Whalberg so ripped...Weird. It's well acted, but it's silly so you can't take it serious. At the end of it, you just went, "Are those people really that dumb?!" Yeah...Wouldn't recommend for most people. Grade: C
Oblivion (Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko) - I'm not sure if I really liked this movie or not. I did guess most of the "twists" in it. It was entertaining. I'm not a huge Cruise fan, but it worked. Good special effects. Good acting. Okay script/story. Eh. It was kind of what I expected. Grade: C+/B-
The Place Beyond the Pines (Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper) - Kind of a tedious script as it spans 2 generations and tried to get across I think too many points, but I don't think it was too bad. If anything, it's an interesting look at what our consequences can do for years down the road (the main point I took away). Not bad. Not great. Good acting, though, I think Gosling tends to pick his films pretty well. Grade: C+
Well...With that...I'm up to 72 watched movies for the year! 28 more to make 100 and 16-ish weeks left of the year. Hm. We'll see! I've got 4 movies I want to see that are coming to RedBox this coming week. After that, we'll see. It'll depend a lot on when summer movies come out. I'm also reading a lot again. Still haven't read anything that says instantly "new love!," but you never know...
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